VB3: Obtain and Change the Paper Bins for the Default Printer (96797)

MORE INFORMATION

The example code listed below demonstrates how to use both ENUMPAPERBINS and GETSETPAPERBINS with the Windows API Escape() function.

An Important Note

The Windows API Escape() function is provided in Windows versions 3.0 and 3.1 for backward compatibility with earlier versions of Microsoft Windows. Applications are supposed to use the GDI DeviceCapabilities() and ExtDeviceMode() functions instead of the Escape() function, but neither DeviceCapabilities() nor ExtDeviceMode() can be called directly from Visual Basic. This is because they are exported by the printer driver, not by the Windows GDI. The only way to use ExtDeviceMode() or DeviceCapabilities() in Visual Basic is to create a DLL and call them from there.

Step-by-Step Example

1. Start Visual Basic or from the File menu, choose New Project (ALT, F, N) if Visual Basic is already running. Form1 is created by default.
2. From the File menu, choose New Module (ALT, F, M). Module1 is created by default.
3. Add the following code to the general declarations section of Module1:

         Global Const MaxBins = 6
         Type PaperBin         ' Used for EnumPaperBins
            BinList(1 To MaxBins) As Integer
            PaperNames(1 To MaxBins) As String * 24
         End Type
   
         Type BinInfo                ' Used for GetSetPaperBins
            CurBinNumber As Integer  ' Current Bin
            NumBins As Integer       ' Number of bins supported by printer
            Reserved1 As Integer     ' Reserved
            Reserved2 As Integer     ' Reserved
            Reserved3 As Integer     ' Reserved
            Reserved4 As Integer     ' Reserved
         End Type
         'Enter each of the following Declare statements on one, single line.
         Declare Function EnumPaperBinEscape% Lib "GDI" Alias "Escape"
            (ByVal hDC%, ByVal nEscape%, ByVal nCount%, NumBins%,
            lpOutData As Any)
         Declare Function GetPaperBinEscape% Lib "GDI" Alias "Escape"
            (ByVal hDC%, ByVal nEscape%, ByVal nCount%, InBinInfo As Any,
            OutBinInfo As Any)
   
         Global Const ENUMPAPERBINS = 31
         Global Const GETSETPAPERBINS = 29
   
   						

4. Add a command button (Command1) to Form1.
5. Add a list box (List1) to Form1.
6. Add the following code to the Command1_Click event procedure:

         Sub Command1_Click ()
            Dim InPaperBin As PaperBin
            Dim InBinInfo As BinInfo
            ' Enter each of the following result% statements on one,
            ' single line:
            result% = GetPaperBinEscape(Printer.hDC, GETSETPAPERBINS, 0,
               ByVal 0&, InBinInfo)
            result% = EnumPaperBinEscape(Printer.hDC, ENUMPAPERBINS, 2,
               MaxBins, InPaperBin)
   
            List1.Clear
            For I% = 1 To InBinInfo.NumBins ' Fill list1 with available bins
               List1.AddItem InPaperBin.PaperNames(I%)
               List1.ItemData(List1.NewIndex) = InPaperBin.BinList(I%)
            Next I%
   
         End Sub
   
   						

7. Add the following code to the List1_Click event procedure:

         Sub List1_Click ()
            Dim InBinInfo As BinInfo
            Dim NewBinInfo As BinInfo
   
            NewBinInfo.CurBinNumber = List1.ItemData(List1.ListIndex)
            ' Enter the following result% statement on one, single line.
            result% = GetPaperBinEscape(Printer.hDC, GETSETPAPERBINS,
               Len(NewBinInfo), NewBinInfo, NewBinInfo)
   
            MsgBox "Sending Sample Output to printer using Bin: " + List1.Text
            Printer.Print "This should of have come from Bin: "; List1.Text
            Printer.EndDoc
         End Sub
   
   						

8. From the Run menu, choose Start (ALT, R, S) to run the program.
9. Choose the Command1 button to see a list of available paper bins for the default printer listed in the List1 box.
10. Select one of the paper bins listed in the List1 box. A message box appears to tell you that a sample printout is being sent to the printer using the paper bin you selected.